Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
It was discussed as a book about Martha Ballard, a midwife, whose diary was the subject of the book, and how it captured the lives of women and men in frontier America.
One of my favorite historians is named Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. She of well-behaved women rarely make history fame, often misattributed to less well-known women than her.
— Episode: Native American Reservations
Episode: Native American Reservations
It was discussed as a book about Martha Ballard, a midwife, whose diary was the subject of the book, and how it captured the lives of women and men in frontier America.
One of my favorite historians is named Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. She of well-behaved women rarely make history fame, often misattributed to less well-known women than her.
Ulrich's most famous book, A Midwife's Tale, is about one of these women, Martha Ballard, a midwife who lived in what is now Augusta, Maine.
Martha Ballard wrote in a diary almost every single day from the time she moved to Augusta, Maine in 1785 until she died in 1812.
Her diary chronicles the life of women and men in frontier America, along with the inner thoughts of an ordinary and relatable person.
Martha's ordinary life lifts me up, even though she was a very average person, because it shows her working and living like people have always done.